On September 7,
Ozone Cinema, Yaba, hosted the first screening of the American-produced
Nigerian movie, D’Comeback. Produced by Prominent Cease, a group of
Nigerian entrepreneurs based in Washington, US, D’Comeback is a
fictional adaptation of the Biblical story of King David.
It is not all
religion however; though there are clues in the characterisation and
plot, it is not quickly apparent that the movie is based on a Bible
story. Directed by Femi Agunbiade, D’Comeback opens with a murder scene
witnessed by David, who is hidden in the shadows of the dark alley
where the crime takes place. The place is Ijoton, a town made unique by
the one code by which all its people live: disputes are settled by a
dance off.
Saul Johnson a
wealthy entrepreneur and the larger than life leader of Ijoton, was
introduced. And the next scene has Saul’s dancers, ‘The Enforcers’
battling it out in a dance off – a la ‘You Got Served’. The unthinkable
happens as they lose to the Goliaths, a rival dance group. This trend
continues, and Goliath takes up a number of Saul’s businesses, until he
has to seek recourse.
Laid out in
chapters, the movie chronicles Saul’s search for a means to redeem his
dance group and secure his empire – a search that leads him to David,
one of the best dancers in Ijoton. David initially refuses to join the
Enforcers, as he disparages the team. “The Enforcers are the wackiest
crew in Ijoton, and I’m not joining them because I’ve got a rep to
protect,” he declares.
Saul is stumped by
this refusal until Micah his daughter decides to help lure David, “No
one refuses me,” she declares to her father, “everyman has an itch; it
just means you have to scratch it.” David eventually caves in.
Micah and David
Soon David wins the
Enforcers’ dance battles and becomes an executive in the Johnson’s
business, but things soon go sour when Saul realises that David is
quickly gaining prominence. Saul, in his ensuing jealousy and paranoia,
develops a split personality that is evident in many scenes. The
condition gets worse after he tries unsuccessfully to put an end to
Micah and David’s budding romance. He begins to devise many plans to
eliminate David- one of which goes awry as he ends up killing his wife
instead.
Saul, aggrieved by
this loss, kills himself and leaves the reins of his business
unwittingly to David as in the wake of his father’s death Jonathan
exiles himself. Micah too, increasingly dissatisfied with David whom
she sees as lacking the ruthlessness of her own father, takes off. What
follows is a correction of Saul’s notorious legacy, and the dismissal
of Gwapo, Saul’s hired assassin.
The last thing
David wants is to become like Saul, and he is the epitome of all that
is different until he meets Beth, the wife of his dancer, Uriah. What
ensues is an affair with Beth, a pregnancy, an attempt to cover the
shame and finally David’s cold hearted murder of an innocent man. The
play explores the repercussion of David’s wickedness, and his eventual
repentance and redemption. The accusation by Saul’s wife on the shady
origin of her husband’s wealth is however not expounded.
Modern twists
A number of factors
make the movie a novel departure from the familiar Bible story. The
dance choreography routines that incorporated some spectacular dance
moves will, no doubt, be an attraction to the younger audience.
‘Ijoton’ depicts a dance town, using a play on the Yoruba word for
dance – Ijo.
With good picture
quality and well executed scenes such as a car bombing; the movie,
which is said to still be in post production stage, should fare well in
cinemas. The actors, unknowns, give impressive deliveries – especially
those playing David, Saul and Leila. Most remarkable though, is the use
of modern day phenomena to explain Biblical references – for instance,
the evil spirit that the Bible says was sent by God to torment Saul is
explained through hallucinations and the emergence of his split
personality.
Also, while the
story seemed to lack a larger social backdrop, beautiful outdoor scenes
like a plane hangar and a harbor are shown – thus succeeding in showing
rather than just implying the wealth of the Johnsons. Also commendable
is the movie’s use of Nigerian soundtrack, specially written and
produced for the movie. Though it starts out on a slow pace, which is
particularly due to dance scenes that went on too long, the movie picks
up eventually.
Shileola
Adeniranye, one of the film’s nine producers, was present at the
screening, and spoke about the movie, scheduled to premiere on
September 29. She disclosed that D’Comeback was shot in six months on a
modest budget of 90,000 dollars, using a wholly Nigerian cast and crew.
The concept of dance
So how did the
producers come up with the concept of dance as a determinant of
community disputes? Adeniranye responded that with the increasing
popularity of dance, especially among the youths, it was a way of
capturing that segment of the audience. “As stated in the Bible, Saul
commanded an army of soldiers, it would have been difficult staging
battles and wars, so we thought to use dance competitions instead. It
also helped that one of the producers is a choreographer.”
A graduate of
English and creative writing, Adeniranye said the producers hope “to
inspire people and create entertainment that is engaging.” She also
spoke about the perceived bubble effect caused by the absence of any
landmarks or references to a larger society, “That was deliberate;
Ijoton is a fictional place, so it wouldn’t do for us to have shown the
White House or other identifiable places. We wanted to keep away those
factual details.”
Diasporan movie
Shafy, whose face
and voice featured many years back in musician Seyi Sodimu’s hit track,
‘Love Me Jeje’, played the part of Saul’s wife, Leila, and was at the
screening. “It was not a very challenging role for me,” she disclosed,
“I am a married woman, so I just had to put myself in the frame of mind
of a woman whose husband was cheating, and imagine the hurt” Asked what
she thinks about the Diaspora making a Nigerian movie for Nigerians,
she reacted, “Why not? If we are there and (Nigerian movie makers) are
trying so hard to break into the international scene, why can’t we do
movies and send them home? We are steadily doing things people here can
be proud of,” she concluded.
The movie begins
its cinema run in Nigeria in October. Kene Mkparu, CEO of Film House
and former MD of Genesis Deluxe Cinema, Lekki, controls the movie’s
distribution in Nigeria. “I like supporting Nigerian products and this
movie is 100 percent Nigerian,” he said. He noted the strong suits of
the movie thus: “Nigerians are a religious people so there will be
identification with its theme. Also, it’s an interesting retelling of a
Biblical story as set in the modern day will make a connection with
many people, especially the youth. And in how many Nigerian Movies have
you seen street dance that is done well?”
While Mkparu assured Nigerians that the premiere will air a digital
version that will further enhance picture quality, he expressed
satisfaction with the production so far, saying “D’Comeback meets the
technical, performance and cinematography standards of any good movie.”
He however did mention one change he would have made in the movie if he
had been involved in its production from start, “I would have included
a known Nigerian face in the cast; not for any performance reasons but
strictly from a marketing standpoint.”
